Library named after first black BBC radio producer

Una Marson first joined the BBC in 1939

A library named after a poet, playwright and the BBC's first black radio producer has opened in south London.

The Una Marson Library was opened by Southwark Council as part of the redevelopment of the Aylesbury area - once home to one of Europe's biggest housing estates.

Councillor Kieron Williams, the council leader, said it was "absolutely fitting" to name the library after Ms Marson who was an "inspiration to thousands".

She arrived from Jamaica to the UK in 1932, first staying in Peckham with Black activist Dr Harold Moody.

Ms Marson was already an experienced writer and journalist by the time she joined the BBC in 1939.

Her first role in the corporation was working at the Alexandra Palace television studios.

When war broke out and the BBC’s TV services were shutdown, she transferred to radio to work both behind the scenes and on air.

Ms Marson later joined full-time as a programme assistant in the "Empire Programmes" department, where her interest in poetry led her to elevate authors from the Caribbean.

She also broadcasted messages from servicemen and women in England to their friends and families in the Caribbean, in her popular weekly series: Calling the West Indies.

In 2009, a Blue Plaque was unveiled at her former home on Brunswick Square in Camberwell.

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The council said the community chose the name for the library to "honour Southwark's rich cultural tradition".

Mr Williams said: "We are also opening the doors to another haven for our community - a place to relax, learn, meet and be inspired, whether you are one or 91.

He also described it as a "significant milestone" in the redevelopment of the Aylesbury area.